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TYSON FURY claimed he will fight Deontay Wilder later this year to rescue Britain’s reputation after countryman Anthony Joshua backed out of a deal to face the American heavyweight champion.

Talks between Joshua and Wilder dominated headlines in the sport for almost four months until AJ was eventually ordered to fight WBA mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin after the governing body ran out of patience with negotiations.

Earlier this week, both Fury and his promoter, Frank Warren, revealed talks were at an advanced stage for the self-styled Gypsy King to step in and fight Wilder later this year instead.

The fight, which has been slated for December in Las Vegas, would see Fury granted his first shot at a heavyweight world title since defeating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.

And the 29-year-old sounded up for the challenge during an interview with Behind The Gloves today, firing a shot at domestic rival Anthony Joshua for not taking up the task himself.

“The Americans are laughing at the British heavyweights because you’ve got Deontay wanting to fight anybody, all the time saying he wants to be the best – and he does, he really means it,” Fury said.

The 29-year-old continues to look increasingly athletic during his comeback (Image: GETTY)

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“He really wanted to fight Anthony Joshua, that offer was genuine, it was really there the $80m for two fights.

“Someone very close to me saw proof of funds and the funds were definitely there ready to take and they didn’t because they wanted to fight an easier opponent in Alexander Povektin.

“I just don’t get why they didn’t take that fight but I don’t want anybody saying that us Brits don’t take fights because I’m a road warrior, I’ve been on the road many times and I’m going to go on the road again to try and save face for the heavyweight division in this country.

“I’m not even the ‘poster boy’ but I’m going on the road to do it, to save our name and reputation.”

An official confirmation is still a little way off, according to promoter Frank Warren, but all parties appear confident a deal will be in place soon.

Warren revealed Wilder will be ringside when Fury fights Francesco Pianeta in Belfast on August 18, joining the BT Sport commentary team as the Manchester man graces the ring for the second time this year.

And Fury revealed how he believed a transatlantic showdown was inevitable between the two giants.

Tyson Fury fought Sefer Seferi in June in his first fight for two-and-a-half years (Image: GETTY)

Deontay Wilder is unbeaten in 40 fights and is the reigning WBC heavyweight champion (Image: GETTY)

He continued: “All along, I always thought that we would end up fighting each other to see who the best heavyweight is in the world and it is finally going to happen, providing I beat Pianeta and he beats his mandatory in [Dominic] Breazeale.

“It’s going to be a massive boxing event, you’ve got two of the biggest heavyweights in the world. Two of the biggest mouths. One from America, one from the United Kingdom.

“It’s going to be an epic battle. You’ve got the massive puncher versus the master boxer. You’ve got the man who beat the man, the lineal champion and you’ve got the WBC champion. You’ve got two men who are not afraid to take fights.

“As we’ve seen in recent times, there has been a lot of guys out there making excuses on why they can’t take these fights and why they don’t want to fight the best. I don’t want to be one of those excuse-makers. I went to Germany before and beat Wladimir Klitschko and I’m about to go to Ireland and beat Francesco Pianeta and the next stop is Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.”